Xbox One

[Scar Symmetry]

Also, Bonnie Ross is hot.

 

[Nykur_Myrkvi]

I don't really care about the loss of backwards compatability... as it's been explained many times over why maintaining that is a waste of resources better spent elsewhere. My 360 will still work

My feelings exactly.

However, there are other things I don't like, e.g. the name.

Why not NXT Box? Stylized:

N
X-Box
T

Then you have "NextBox" as a name but you could use the NXT as an acronym. For what?

I don't know: "New X-Box Technology"? "Neo Xtreme Tech"? "Nude XXX Teachers"?

 

[Entropy Prevails]

XBox One? ....ing horrible! They ....ed up big time with this!
I played the 360 for more than five years and I´m very content with it but what they just did was horrible! A console for television? What the hell is the point, there are things that do that already and they are cheaper. And all that Kinect crap is also unnecessary! But the worst thing is the used game block and the internet registering! Way to piss off people Microsoft!

 

[flint757]

Seriously, if you buy a used game from somewhere like Gamestop chances are it will come with a code. If I buy a used game that is the typical place I go to since I have an account there.

Kinect may be unnecessary, but it too will probably come with the XBOX so it isn't an extra fee or anything. For all anyone knows it may be ....ing awesome to use for getting around the XBOX. Having 20 cables going to my TV is annoying, an eye sore and just more potential for something to go wrong. Wiring the DVR to an XBOX actually sounds like a cool idea. I imagine you don't HAVE to do it either.

Honestly, if you mostly play on your own XBOX, mostly new games, used games only form official outlets and have internet you are probably not going to notice or be bothered by most of this shit. Even in the most hick areas around here there is some form of internet connection. You don't have to be logged on the entire time, just long enough for them to check in and then it can go off again. You could probably do that with dial up even. I'm logged in 24/7 to my internet and I bought Sony move for my PS3, it is all attached and not a huge deal. I haven't come across any videos of me wanking.

 

[groverj3]

Seriously, if you buy a used game from somewhere like Gamestop chances are it will come with a code. If I buy a used game that is the typical place I go to since I have an account there.

Kinect may be unnecessary, but it too will probably come with the XBOX so it isn't an extra fee or anything. For all anyone knows it may be ....ing awesome to use for getting around the XBOX. Having 20 cables going to my TV is annoying, an eye sore and just more potential for something to go wrong. Wiring the DVR to an XBOX actually sounds like a cool idea. I imagine you don't HAVE to do it either.

Honestly, if you mostly play on your own XBOX, mostly new games, used games only form official outlets and have internet you are probably not going to notice or be bothered by most of this shit. Even in the most hick areas around here there is some form of internet connection. You don't have to be logged on the entire time, just long enough for them to check in and then it can go off again. You could probably do that with dial up even. I'm logged in 24/7 to my internet and I bought Sony move for my PS3, it is all attached and not a huge deal. I haven't come across any videos of me wanking.

It's already been confirmed that Kinect comes with it. Not every game will require it, but you can always use the voice commands to change channels, games, etc. I actually think that's a great feature, especially because it comes with the system. Sounds like a good deal to me.

I do worry about the price though, since kinect is bundled.

 

[goherpsNderp]

the strange thing is that MS said if you don't want to use the kinect features you can disable it.... but it still hast to be connected and on..... for some reason... but they still decided to make it the central focus on the system...

lots of contradictions and unnecessary requirements. they talk about convenience to the user, yet entering a code just to use a game is a step BACKWARDS from what we've all become accustomed to. as far as passes are concerned, right now those are only for specific publishers and it's just to activate the online features of the game when you buy used- you can still play singleplayer. EA even announced they were doing away with the whole program citing negative consumer feedback.

so you basically have companies that are putting consumer ease and satisfaction above all else, and others that are putting publisher ease and satisfaction above the end user. we still don't know exactly how Sony will handle those same issues with PS4, but so far it's not looking good for the Xbone in that department.

 

[Mordacain]

so you basically have companies that are putting consumer ease and satisfaction above all else, and others that are putting publisher ease and satisfaction above the end user. we still don't know exactly how Sony will handle those same issues with PS4, but so far it's not looking good for the Xbone in that department.

I don't think that's really the case. Each publisher is going to take steps to protect their own interests but they will always balance that with customer feedback. It will always be a balance between losing money due to 2nd hand sales / piracy and losing money due to losing customers due to draconian DRM / authorization codes, etc.

I don't see any of the companies pushing a customer-centric policy really. I just haven't heard Sony's stance on the matter yet.

 

[Konfyouzd]

If Sony gets rid of those weird floating triggers I might be tempted to check em out this time around.

 

[goherpsNderp]

I don't think that's really the case. Each publisher is going to take steps to protect their own interests but they will always balance that with customer feedback. It will always be a balance between losing money due to 2nd hand sales / piracy and losing money due to losing customers due to draconian DRM / authorization codes, etc.

I don't see any of the companies pushing a customer-centric policy really. I just haven't heard Sony's stance on the matter yet.

While the bolded is true, with the Xbone it's enforced across the board. I don't agree with that method because it makes things unnecessarily complicated for users, it is counter-intuitive, and it serves only to protect the publisher and platform holder, with no clear benefit to the user at all. With the online passes we've seen this generation the consumer could at least (and did) make a choice to specifically not support publishers that enforced it, but in this situation if you either don't buy the console at all or do. No way to say to a specific publisher that you don't like it because it's at the system level.

As far as Sony, I can only go by the way they put a focus on ease to the end user with playing while download, instantaneous starting of content without waiting for loading and buffering, and even the ability to suspend the system while playing and resuming later on. So if their focus with basic system features are making things better for users, then I expect (even if it's blind faith) that they will (ie: should) follow through the same way with their content management policies. Vita is their most recent foray, so if you go by the way it works, you can play a borrowed game fine, but if you want to earn trophies for it you'll need to buy the game. I find that to be a more appropriate means of discouraging new copy sales without alienating the users.

It's entirely possible though that they'll do something similar to MS, or even worse, that a precedent has been set and they'll follow it. It's also possible they'll treat games the same way they have this generation, who knows. But strangely enough, Gamestop isn't worried about it and showed that something like 70% of their trade-ins go towards new games, so it's anyone's guess at this point as to weather or not it's going to be definitively good for the industry or bad. As an end user though my priority is just to protect myself and try and vote with my wallet.

 

[axxessdenied]

I'm phasing consoles out of my home and replacing them with a PC for the TV.

 

[Matt_D_]

From what I've read, XB will be going with custom built CPU's. My main reason for not being into AMD is when I worked at a CP store we had a lot of problems with them. It's been a few years but it really turned me off to AMD in general. And like I said it was just from a personal experience with their product. But once again, it boils down to a personal preference. lol I haven't given the company a really good look in quite a while so I may do that again, seeing as how everything I own computer wise is either Intel i7 or Core2duo powered.

nah, its unlikely they'll be custom for cost reasons. both sony and ms are going with AMD for financial reasons, leaving behind the fabrication and cost issues of PPC / Custom cpus (remember the original cell yeild issues? and the issues with PPC fabrication units?). both will be reasonably low clock too. somewhere in the mid 1ghz's. at least going on released specs.

they're both effectively 8 core SOC type units as far as we know at this point. im sure ifixit will take one apart eventually.

 

[RustInPeace]

I'm not as tech knowledgeable as I used to be... 8 actual cores or 4 cores hyper-threaded?

 

[groverj3]

I'm not as tech knowledgeable as I used to be... 8 actual cores or 4 cores hyper-threaded?

I believe they'll be 8 physical cores. I could be wrong though. It's likely that one will be reserved for the OS(s) to eliminate lag when multi-tasking and switching programs, etc.

No confirmation on that, but that's what I would do.

 

[groverj3]

nah, its unlikely they'll be custom for cost reasons. both sony and ms are going with AMD for financial reasons, leaving behind the fabrication and cost issues of PPC / Custom cpus (remember the original cell yeild issues? and the issues with PPC fabrication units?). both will be reasonably low clock too. somewhere in the mid 1ghz's. at least going on released specs.

they're both effectively 8 core SOC type units as far as we know at this point. im sure ifixit will take one apart eventually.

They're both essentially AMD Jaguars. Both are almost 100% stock, with some very minor changes. Sony is just admitting that it's mostly a stock chipset, and MS is claiming it's custom (which is not exactly false, but it's still mostly the same thing). The chip in the PS4 is very slightly more powerful, gfx-wise than the XB, but both are pretty equal in terms of computations. They're both so close that nobody is likely going to notice any performance differences when playing games. Benchmarks will show that the chip in the PS4 is more powerful, but benchmark speed is not the same as actual performance in a game/application.

The only significant difference hardware-wise is the RAM. Sony is using GDDR5 with no buffer, and MS is using DDR3 with ESRAM as a small buffer.

At first glance you might automatically assume that the GDDR5 wins, but using the buffer in addition to 8 GB of DDR3 changes things and makes it less of a direct comparison. Basically, actual performance is going to be very similar. Again, benchmarks are going to be the only place where one would see a difference.

It's pretty interesting to me, actually. There have never been two consoles in production at the same time that are so similar in terms of hardware. There have always been massive differences in construction/architecture until now. The PS3 had a pretty large advantage in tech, but squeezing out that performance was challenging for developers. What we're seeing now is that both companies are making their consoles developer friendly, and I think we're going to have better games as a result (on both systems).

Both consoles are going to be connected to cloud computing, so in the future their own hardware is going to become less important. When developers start utilizing remote servers for computations you can pretty much throw out the box's hardware specs. Then it jsut becomes a game of trying get the lowest latency internet connection you can find. People will complain about having to be online all the time, but it's going to lead to bigger, more detailed, maps, smarter AI, etc. Things like this might actually push telecom companies into improving infrastructure as well.

 

[RustInPeace]

Similar specs = easier ports = less production cost?

 

[synrgy]

^ = no change (or a raise) in price for us = more profits for them.

 

[Konfyouzd]

But why shouldn't they keep more money? They worked so hard?

... And the same can't be said for anyone buying the product...

 

[Grand Moff Tim]

Back when I was primarily a console gamer and people were just starting to whisper about the idea of an all-digital-download game market, I hated the idea. I thought it was stupid, and had no idea what I was going to do if and when that finally happened.

Aaaaaaand then I got a gaming PC and started using Steam, an all-digital-download gaming market. I can't buy used games. I can't resell games I bought. Turns out, none of that bothers me even a little bit. Matter of fact, when I sit and think about it, there are only two things that are potentially problematic about it:

1) Depending on where you live and what internet options you have available to you, games can take FOREVER to download. When I first got Skyrim (PC Collector's Edition), the disc it came with had no content on it, and just directed me to Steam and provided me with a download code. Servers were so bogged down, made worse by my already slow internet, that it took nearly six hours to download the entire thing. I practically could've driven to Chicago and back to buy a console copy of the game that would've played as soon as I put it in the machine (or ten minutes after, depending on day one patches, hahaha). That shit was ultrafrustrating.

2) It will make it either more difficult or more expensive to help out gamers less fortunate than myself. I'm fairly certain there are charities out there that people can donate their used games and consoles to so they can be distributed to poor families who don't have the disposable income for frivolities like games, and having game discs just provide you with locked content (on disc or downloadable) that needs a new bought-and-paid-for code to unlock each time you want to play it on a new console will hamper that severely. More personally, my sister's family has been struggling financially for years, and I've made a habit of letting my nephews and brother in law borrow my games so they can have fun playing games AND have money for silly things like food and rent. It'll be a shame for people to not be able to help eachother in similar ways because games are locked to one console.

Apart from those things, though, this all just seems like Steam but on a living room console, and since I'm fine with Steam, I wouldn't be able to complain too much about the new consoles.

I'm also not too terribly bothered by the online requirement. I'm in the "I'm always online anyways, so I don't give a shit" camp, but I do understand why it would bother those who aren't so lucky. One example I've seen brought up that I've witnessed personally is servicemen deployed overseas. When I was deployed on ships in the Persian Gulf, it was commonplace for people to bring consoles with them on deployments and set them up in their berthing area lounges or occasionally the mess decks, and I assure you, there is no internet available to connect consoles to in those situations. There are internet connections on ships, but they're very tightly controlled and suuuuuper shitty, speed-wise. They're more for signing in to a computer room to check email that takes 4 minutes per page to load, not so much for hooking up consoles to check in with their e-Wardens so they can play the newest Call of Battlefied: Ghost Dogs. Of course, there won't be anything to stop people on deployment from just sticking with previous console generations and still having a good time, it's just unfortunate that they won't have the same opportunity to enjoy current technology that others have.

EDIT: Another potential issue with all-digial-download consoles is that I sure hope Microsoft eventually releases Xbones with larger hard drives. 500GB seems like alot, until you start buying a fair number of AAA-level humongous games. As I found out with what I THOUGHT was a decent sized drive in my gaming laptop, that shit fills up wit da quickness.

 

[flint757]

Similar specs = easier ports = less production cost?

I really hope porting gets better so lazy developers can make actual good ports to PC. I mean Crysis 1 had better graphics than Crysis 2 because why? It was designed for consoles and then just poorly ported over. Then you have games like Prototype where the controls for mouse and keyboard could be a lot better for the same reason.

 

[axxessdenied]

Back when I was primarily a console gamer and people were just starting to whisper about the idea of an all-digital-download game market, I hated the idea. I thought it was stupid, and had no idea what I was going to do if and when that finally happened.

Aaaaaaand then I got a gaming PC and started using Steam, an all-digital-download gaming market. I can't buy used games. I can't resell games I bought. Turns out, none of that bothers me even a little bit. Matter of fact, when I sit and think about it, there are only two things that are potentially problematic about it:

1) Depending on where you live and what internet options you have available to you, games can take FOREVER to download. When I first got Skyrim (PC Collector's Edition), the disc it came with had no content on it, and just directed me to Steam and provided me with a download code. Servers were so bogged down, made worse by my already slow internet, that it took nearly six hours to download the entire thing. I practically could've driven to Chicago and back to buy a console copy of the game that would've played as soon as I put it in the machine (or ten minutes after, depending on day one patches, hahaha). That shit was ultrafrustrating.

2) It will make it either more difficult or more expensive to help out gamers less fortunate than myself. I'm fairly certain there are charities out there that people can donate their used games and consoles to so they can be distributed to poor families who don't have the disposable income for frivolities like games, and having game discs just provide you with locked content (on disc or downloadable) that needs a new bought-and-paid-for code to unlock each time you want to play it on a new console will hamper that severely. More personally, my sister's family has been struggling financially for years, and I've made a habit of letting my nephews and brother in law borrow my games so they can have fun playing games AND have money for silly things like food and rent. It'll be a shame for people to not be able to help eachother in similar ways because games are locked to one console.

Apart from those things, though, this all just seems like Steam but on a living room console, and since I'm fine with Steam, I wouldn't be able to complain too much about the new consoles.

I'm also not too terribly bothered by the online requirement. I'm in the "I'm always online anyways, so I don't give a shit" camp, but I do understand why it would bother those who aren't so lucky. One example I've seen brought up that I've witnessed personally is servicemen deployed overseas. When I was deployed on ships in the Persian Gulf, it was commonplace for people to bring consoles with them on deployments and set them up in their berthing area lounges or occasionally the mess decks, and I assure you, there is no internet available to connect consoles to in those situations. There are internet connections on ships, but they're very tightly controlled and suuuuuper shitty, speed-wise. They're more for signing in to a computer room to check email that takes 4 minutes per page to load, not so much for hooking up consoles to check in with their e-Wardens so they can play the newest Call of Battlefied: Ghost Dogs. Of course, there won't be anything to stop people on deployment from just sticking with previous console generations and still having a good time, it's just unfortunate that they won't have the same opportunity to enjoy current technology that others have.

EDIT: Another potential issue with all-digial-download consoles is that I sure hope Microsoft eventually releases Xbones with larger hard drives. 500GB seems like alot, until you start buying a fair number of AAA-level humongous games. As I found out with what I THOUGHT was a decent sized drive in my gaming laptop, that shit fills up wit da quickness.

Yeah, people seem to forget that there is already an all-digital platform that is HUGELY successful and a big driving force behind PC game sales. Steam rocks, I love it. screw having hard copies of games and creating more waste / packaging that is simply unnecessary.

And, the beauty of Steam is the Big Picture Mode now which gives it a console like UI for use on your TV